The Interview
by by7the7sea
Summary: Bucky reluctantly grants an interview with a very persistent journalist. Wanted to post something to celebrate Bucky's 100th Birthday.


Bucky arrived at the meeting's location early. He wanted, no, needed to scope out the area before the interview started. Something leftover from his Winter Soldier days. Since it was early in the day, the library was not very busy. The reporter let him choose the meeting place. He selected the library because it was public, yet provided somewhat private areas where she could interview him.

After everything that had happened since he broke out of Hydra's control five years ago, Bucky's life was just now starting to get back to normal. Well, as normal a life as a 100-year-old super soldier with a metal arm could get. The nightmares continued, but were much less frequent than they had been when he first started to remember. Instead of having them practically every night, it's now down to just a couple every month or so. The extensive therapy, which Sam would supplement with his own brand of tough love, had a lot to do with that. Working with the Avengers was also helping him atone for the Winter Soldier's actions. He wasn't a full Avenger, but it was enough to be able to help.

If it weren't for that lingering guilt and regret from all the death the Winter Soldier had wrought, he would almost say he was happy. Almost. He didn't deserve to be happy. At least that is what he is always telling himself.

Bucky checked his watch. He still had about five minutes before meeting with the reporter, so he found a seat near the entrance to wait.

Initially, he had flat out refused to even respond to the requests this editor had sent on behalf of this journalist, but they were persistent. With that and having discussed it with Steve, Bucky finally, very reluctantly, agreed, but with one condition. He wanted to have control over what she printed. Part of the reason he added that caveat was because he figured there would be no way she would agree to it. Bucky was floored when she accepted it. _"She must really want this interview,"_ he thought. That right there sent off alarm bells in his head, but he dismissed them as unfounded paranoia.

 _"You don't have to share everything and just think about your responses before giving them,"_ Steve had told him.

Think about his responses before giving them? Didn't Steve know who he was talking to? Yes, yes he did and that's exactly why he said it. Bucky chuckled at the thought.

Not wanting to get too much in his head beforehand, he decided to people watch until she arrived.

 **xxx MCU xxx**

Bucky didn't have long to wait. The reporter arrived on time a few minutes later.

"Mr. Barnes, thank you for meeting with me," she said. "I'm Sara Jones." She switched her laptop and notebook (she believed in being prepared for any situation) to her left hand and held out her right.

"Ms. Jones, you are very persistent," Bucky replied as he shook her hand. There was something about this bright young brunette that sparked something in his mind, a sense of ... familiarity. He couldn't quite place it so just dismissed it as a fluke.

"It runs in the family," Sara responded with a smile. "I know the perfect spot to conduct this interview. Since it's a beautiful day today, would it be okay to take this outside, Mr. Barnes?"

"Please, call me Bucky. Mr. Barnes was my father."

"Sure, Mist ... I mean, Bucky. No problem. So, if you don't mind, shall we take this outside?"

Bucky considered it for a moment.

"I would prefer to stay indoors, please." Taking this outside just seemed too risky. He felt safer indoors. It was easier to control the situation, fewer variables to consider. He didn't like staying in one spot in the open for too long ... another feeling leftover from his Fist of Hydra days.

Sara's bright smile dimmed slightly. "Sure, sure no problem."

"There's a perfect spot indoors, right over here," Bucky said.

He lead her to a corner spot that had a couple of easy chairs and a small coffee table between them by a big open window. In a gentlemanly way, he directed her to the one chair then took the other, which was more in the corner, for himself. It provided him the perfect vantage point to see anyone coming in and not be directly in the window. Nobody could sneak up on him.

Once she got settled in, setting her laptop and notebook on the table and then retrieving a small voice recorder from her purse, Sarah started with a statement.

"Bucky, I really would like to thank you again for meeting with me. As my editor already indicated in the letters requesting this, I am wanting to do a human interest story on what you've been through. I believe it could be an inspiring piece."

Bucky sighed.

Sara noticed, but continued. "It's a story that is important to our country's history and, even more so, to veterans. It's going to win the hearts of many readers."

She stopped to take a breath and smiled at him again. He noticed another emotion briefly cross her face before the smile, but couldn't quite place it. She wasn't lying to him, necessarily, but there was something else there.

"Sara, I hope you don't try to delve too much into ... uhm ... a certain time in my life that I would like to forget." He wasn't about to forget it, but wasn't going to admit that to her.

"I'm doing much better now, but it's still a touchy subject. And, frankly, a lot of it is classified."

"Oh, no, I wasn't going to go too much into that. This isn't an expose piece, but more of a triumph of the human spirit one."

Once she was able to allay his fears, the interview started in full. Sara asked about why he joined the Army, what it was like fighting in World War II and tried to delve a bit into what happened to him since he returned to himself, broke out of the programming. He shared some stories about his time with the Howling Commandos, about Steve (of course), although she didn't want to cover much about him and they discussed a bit about how he was working to recover from what Hydra did to him. Some of it was hard to discuss, but Bucky was able to keep certain things out of it. He only shared what he was comfortable with sharing. A couple of times she tried to get more information, but acquiesced if he flat out refused. After each instance, she would apologize for pressing then go on to her next question.

 **xxx MCU xxx**

Overall, Bucky felt positive about the experience and felt that she had respected his boundaries. When he checked the clock and two hours had passed, he hoped the interview was coming to an end.

Sara finished writing a note, then looked up. She also noticed the time and checked her calendar then turned back to Bucky.

"Wow, the time sure has flown by. I'll be wrapping this up soon because I have another appointment to get to, but would like to ask one more question, if I may."

Bucky nodded.

"Oh, good. Thank you, I promise this will be the last thing we cover."

He gave her a tired, but grateful smile.

"What, if anything, do you remember about your family? Your parents or ... your sisters?"

The way she asked this gave Bucky a feeling there was a bit more to this than she was letting on.

"Well, unfortunately, not much. It's been such a long time and I've had so much other ... stuff to deal with that, frankly, I haven't tried ... much."

"Oh." Her bright expression faded, much more than when he refused to go outside to conduct the interview.

"I'm sorry, Sara. It's just ... I'm afraid all that's there for me is heartache. I'm over a hundred years old. The likelihood of any of my siblings having survived this long is just, well ... I've ... been scared to find out what happened to them. I'd like to find out, someday, but just haven't had the courage to do it ... yet."

"Mr. Barnes ... I mean, Bucky, I do have a confession to make," she said and stared at her hands. "There is one other reason I wanted this interview."

Bucky watched her closely, a bit wary about what she was going to say.

"I," she started but hesitated seeing the look on Bucky's face and suddenly deciding she didn't want to go there, didn't want to cause him any more pain. "Never mind, I have to go."

With tears in her eyes, she quickly gathered her things and got up to leave when he gently grabbed her arm.

"What? What is it, Sara?" Bucky was just beginning to realize what was so familiar about the young woman, what had caused that spark of recognition when he first saw her.

"It's okay. Thank you for your time. I'm happy for you. You've adjusted well to modern life."

Sara started to leave again and made it a few steps before being stopped in her tracks when Bucky said, "Rebecca." He stood up and waited for her to respond.

Sara bowed her head.

"Rebecca is ... you're her ... granddaughter?"

"Great-granddaughter, yes," Sara replied with a nod, not turning around.

Bucky slowly approached her, placing his hand on her arm as he passed in front of her to face her. She slowly looked up at him, tears threatening to fall.

"You have that same fire in your eyes that she had," Bucky said then gently wrapped Sara in a hug. "I saw it when you introduced yourself, but denied what it was ... what it could mean."

"I was telling the truth. I do want to write a human interest story about you," Sara spoke into his chest, "but, selfishly, I wanted to meet you, let you know that you still have family out here."

"Thank you." Bucky squeezed her just a little tighter as a few tears trailed down his face. "It is good to know. Thank you for that."

 **xxx THE END xxx**


End file.
